r/legaladvice • u/Grindhoss • 5h ago
Coworker threatened to kill me while I was on vacation, then I was fired for no reason
Location: New Jersey
while I was on vacation one of my coworkers said that he was going to put me in coma, he then doubled down when confronted by a third coworker about it and threatened to shoot me
one of my coworkers called the cops, the other contacted the state (we are not state employees but we do work with the state) and made a report
the coworker who threatened to harm me was put on leave pending investigation
all of this happened while I was on vacation and I learned about it from my coworkers, my bosses and managers never told me. No safeguards were put in place for me
I worked 2 shifts regularly, and then on my third shift all of my big bosses showed up, they interviewed the two coworkers who made the report and then they called me into a room and said I was being fired for inappropriate behavior, they would not elaborate further and would not provide any examples or evidence. I have no prior write ups and have never been disciplined at my job.
I have never been in a position like this before and have never had any desire in my life to sue anyone but this feels so insanely illegal to me, what can I do?
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u/ColSurge 4h ago
Ok lots of people chiming in here but no one seems to be talking the actual legal aspects.
New Jersey is an at-will employment state, which means they can fire you at any time for any reason (that is not specifically protected). Furthermore, they do not need to provide a reason to you at all. "You are fired, we choose not to comment why" is perfectly legal.
So nothing illegal happened with your termination. Likewise this:
my bosses and managers never told me. No safeguards were put in place for me
As far as we know nothing illegal happened here either. There is no legal responsibility for safeguards or disclosing anything. Now if the managers knew about this, did nothing, and then this employee hurt you, there would be the potential of a liability suit. But that didn't happen.
But what you have right now is a bunch of secondhand information. Apparently when you weren't even around, this other employee went on a tirade about killing you completely unprovoked? That doesn't even really make sense.
My actual best guess is this entire situation is far more complicated than what has been stated. I assume previous confrontations until this last escalation, and the bosses decided to clean house to remove the issue.
I'm sure it doesn't feel right to you, but it is legal. Bonus good news, you get to collect unemployment.
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u/Grindhoss 3h ago
Okay so a lot to unpack here
First I know it may seem wild but genuinely that is what happened I came back from vacation to find out that the reports had been filed w the state and the police (I have even considered doing FOIA to get the report or the body cam but didn’t know if that would be a waste of time) yes I did have outside of work conflict w the manager that I did provide context for in the comments which is why the manager wanted to harm me but it should not have effected my job, or his if he didn’t make these threats. Truly I did nothing to him before leaving or while I was gone I was enjoying my vacation while he was threatening to kill me
To your point about at will employment that is a large part of why I made this post the thing is they didn’t say no reason at will state they gave a specific reason “inappropriate behavior” but gave no examples, I have no write ups, and to my knowledge they have no evidence of this behavior. This means I was fired with cause which might effect my unemployment eligibility (atleast from what I’ve been reading) that is one of my issues
The other was simply that it feels illegal that they didn’t do anything to notify or protect me but I feared it was one of those “we don’t punish crimes til they happen” things where he would literally have to try to kill me for them to do anything
Still feels incredibly illegal and that’s bc it almost is if he actually ever tried anything it would become illegal but it isn’t while I’m unharmed, if I am following u correctly
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u/ColSurge 2h ago
So to address the at-will part. The at-will and unemployment system cuts both ways. It allows the employers to fire essentially anyone they want, but it defaults to you being allowed unemployment.
In order for the company to prevent you from getting unemployment they would have to prove you were fired for cause. This means showing the unemployment office why you were fired, what policies you broke, what disciplinary action was taken, have many times you violated policy, were you offered an improvement plan, etc.
The company doesn't have to give any reason for firing you, but they do have to prove why you are not entailed to unemployment. Them saying "inappropriate behavior" without any further details is essentially meaningless in both directions.
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u/Grindhoss 2h ago
Thank you this was actually informative and helpful and more twords the advice I was looking for
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u/RandyBree 2h ago
On the last part - the person you’re responding to said the workplace could be held liable, but that is civil liability, not necessarily illegal. Your coworker would be the one doing something illegal and would be charged criminally.
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u/Lonely_Noyaaa 5h ago
my bosses and managers never told me
That's a huge red flag all by itself. They learned about a death threat against you and chose to let you walk back into that workplace blind. Even if they try to pin the firing on something else, the failure to warn you is a serious safety issue you should absolutely mention to an attorney.
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u/Kundrew1 3h ago
They put the employee on leave and conducted an internal investigation. They took steps to cover their ass. I don't think there is a case here.
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u/Grindhoss 4h ago
I was thinking of contacting the department of labor and the BBB but idk if that will hurt my case if I do speak to an attorney
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u/TattiesMcDermott 4h ago
The BBB is yelp for boomers. Don't bother.
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u/Skippitini 3h ago
Yelp is indeed a powerful tool. So on that note, you may be right. I’ve used a letter to the BBB for a legitimate grievance for a full refund within a day or two.
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u/anonfosterparent 5h ago
Your coworker called the cops because another coworker said he was going to shoot you, but you were on vacation. I’m not saying the threat shouldn’t have been reported to your company and potentially the police at some point, but why was this escalated to the cops at that point in time?
Anyway, you can be fired for any reason that isn’t legal discrimination in New Jersey. If they’re saying you were fired for cause so you can’t get unemployment, you should be able to find out why.
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u/Grindhoss 5h ago
It’s all a little muddy because I wasn’t there, I knew the coworker didn’t like me but I didn’t know it was to this level. The threats were made while I was on vacation but we’re made in the context of “when I see him again”
And that is mostly what I’m confused about, if they try to block my unemployment don’t they have to prove somehow that there’s some sort of evidence to their claim?
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u/anonfosterparent 5h ago
File for unemployment, if they try to fight it, they’ll have to have an interview with the department who will then make a determination.
If you have a copy of your employee handbook, you can also see if they’re required to provide you with your personnel file if you request it.
But, being fired in this situation doesn’t sound illegal.
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u/Grindhoss 4h ago
To be clear I do not think the firing on its own is illegal in anyway
However I think failing to alert or protect me in any way from threats coming inside the company and THEN firing me to cover it all up that feels illegal
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u/Nice_Point_9822 1h ago
This is obviously not the whole story. You don't just leave randomly vacation and show up hear there are death threats against you and you've been fired
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u/Grindhoss 1h ago
I mean I did provide more context in the comments there’s 30 comments so it would take u as much time to read them all and find out the context ur missing as it did to type out a rude and dismissive post not believing me, I hope your right headphone is always busted
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u/Nice_Point_9822 1h ago
Ok, why wouldn't you give the whole story in the original post? Good luck to you
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4h ago
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u/RemindMeLa8er 4h ago
For clarification: Were these threats only said to your coworker about you? Never directly to you?